Navigational light beacons typically emit a fan beam that is vertically narrow and broad in the horizontal plane. Lights of this type must have uniform output around the horizontal plane.
Since the advent of high brightness light emitting diodes (LED), a plethora of beacons have been designed to take advantage of the LED. The majority of these beacons utilize a plurality of narrow beam 5 mm LEDs in a circular array, where the axis of maximum intensity is directed outward and lies in the horizontal plane. The light output from the LEDs is typically collimated by an additional refractive optical element. A high intensity beacon requires a large number of these LEDs to produce the appropriate amount of light. The individual beam profiles of these LEDs are often seen as ripples in the horizontal uniformity. Adding a diffusion filter that spreads the light horizontally to smooth out the beam profile can eliminate these ripples, but may attenuate the light intensity. Recent innovations in LED technology have created dramatically brighter LEDs. These new LEDs facilitate the creation of high intensity beacons with substantially fewer LEDs. There are at least two difficulties in utilizing these new LEDs for beacons. The newer LEDs have wide (lambertian) beam patterns which makes collimating the LED's light difficult. In addition, the reduced number of LEDs can lead to non-uniform horizontal output. Manufacturing a beacon utilizing a plurality of Lambertian LEDs in a circular array, where the axis of maximum intensity is directed outward and lies in the horizontal plane is difficult.